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Perseus Quadrant
The Perseus Quadrant (also known as the 'North Quadrant' and sometimes the 'Perseus-Scutum Quadrant' and also 'The Back of Beyond') is an area of the Milky Way galaxy lying primarily on the opposite side of the Galactic Core from the Orion Quadrant. Along with the Carina ('West' or 'Hercules') Quadrant, the Perseus was considered part of the remote frontier of the galaxy. History The earliest exploration of the galaxy focused, quite naturally, on the region closest to Earth. As technology advanced and the Galactic Frontier pushed further and further, efforts to map and survey even the most remote regions of the galaxy advanced also. The Perseus Quadrant was mapped remotely many additional times under the Galactic Federation’s Shunga Galactic Cartography Project. The first unmanned survey probes were dispatched in the 26th Solar Century, routing around the Galactic Core where stellar density and the gravimetric effect of black holes made navigation risky. Scientific Facilities throughout the Galactic Federation received compiled, analyzed, revised, and compiled again the probe data. Models for the outer quadrants were revised repeatedly as the data became more robust. The first human ship known to have reached the Perseus Quadrant was the multi-generational exploration ship “Perseus Explorer” in the Solar Year 2745. After traveling nearly 50,000 light years for nearly 200 years after departing New California colony, Perseus Explorer reached the far edge of the Perseus Arm and launched its cargo of 44 advanced long-range surveyor probes. Early on, the galactic quadrants were assigned by treating the galactic disk as a circle and dividing it into simple quadrants at 90 degree intervals with the meridian aligning through the Earth’s solar system. This scheme was ultimately deemed inadequate because of such factors as the galaxy not being a circular disk, the barred double spiral structure of the galaxy, the uneven distribution of stars, and the constant motion of stars around the galactic core. The 19th Commonwealth Galactic Survey Treaty of 2996 (19-CGST-2996) (“The Procyon Agreement”) codified the naming and survey conventions for future galactic exploration and colonization. 19-CGST-2996 established the Perseus as lying approximately within 45 degrees on either side of the Galactic Meridian and including 60 degrees of the Perseus spiral arm. 19-CGST-2996 divided the Quadrant initially divided into 44 Galactic Sectors. Twenty-two of these sectors were named from the 88 Constellations of Classical Western Astronomy and designated for further survey, exploration, and ultimately colonization. The Galactic Survey Treaty specified that the Quadrants and Sectors of the Outer Galaxy were strictly navigational and cartographic reference points and were to be accorded no political standing, although these sectors had been and would continue to be used that way for centuries in the Orion Quadrant. Twenty-two sectors in the Perseus Quadrant were designated for first wave colonization, the remainder held in reserve for third wave colonization. These First Wave sectors were initially assigned the following sector designations: · Andromeda · Antlia · Ara · Auriga · Cepheus · Cetus · Circinus · Columba · Corvus · Crux · Equuleus · Horologium · Lacerta · Lynx · Lyra · Pegasus · Perseus · Reticulum · Sextans · Triangulum · Vela · Vulpecula Each sector was defined by an Octahedron 4,000 light years across. As stars move continuously the motion of each sector was also plotted according to a formula based on galactic rotation. Exploration and Colonization Manned expeditions launched to the Perseus Quadrant in the 31st Solar Century. However, because so much of the galaxy on the near side of the core remained unexplored and uncolonized, no efforts were made to establish colonies on the far side of it. For the next thousand years, colonization efforts were rare and sporadic; primarily comprising refugees fleeing the Nine Crusades, attempting to put as much distance between themselves and the wars as possible. Even by the fastest and most advanced ships, a hyperspace transit from Orion to Perseus required over a century of real-time. Following the conclusion of the Crusades in the 41st Century, a concerted effort to establish colonies in the far reaches of the galaxy took shape in the form of the Year 10,000 Project. The ambitious goal of this Commonwealth project was to establish full colonization of every sector of the galaxy by the Solar Year 10,000. Resources were dedicated to building seed colonies in the outer sectors of the galaxy, with a plan for the colonies to spread outward and eventually fill the arms of the galaxy with humanity. The effort was boosted in the 45th Solar Century by the development of 'StarLocks,' devices capable of creating trans-dimensional wormholes connected across vast distances virtually instantaneously. The Commonwealth determined to build at least one StarLock on every sector of the galaxy, with multiple StarLocks in the more densely populated Orion and Centaurus Quadrants. A Starlock was constructed in each of the 22 First Wave Sectors of the Perseus Quadrant. At the time of the collapse of the Human Galactic Commonwealth in the 55th Solar Century, there were ~1,400 established colonies across the twenty-two sectors of the Perseus Quadrant and between one and two billion human inhabitants. The Perseus Quadrant was spared the brunt of the Tarmigan Apocalypse (c. SY5400), but the collapse of the Galactic Commonwealth led to a breakdown of transport and communication links between the colonies; some of this was a deliberate result of colonies “going dark” to hide their existence from the Tarmigans. During the 1,600 solar years that followed, an unknown number of colonies failed because of low population, insufficient resources, or dependence on external support. Those that survived did so on their own; each developing its own unique cultures and society. Renaissance For a thousand years following the collapse of the Commonwealth, the colonies of the Perseus Quadrant struggled to survive and build their cultures. By the 66th Solar Century, a few remote colonies… Bountiful , Republic , and Sapphire -- and later Gander -Longueil -- were beginning to redevelop spacefaring capabilities. These colonies had other colonies in close proximity (within the same system) and incentive to develop such capabilities. In the 65th Century, the colony of Aurelia also began building a spacefaring capability with the objective of conquest after casting off a thousand years of domination by an alien race called ‘The Aurelians.’ In the 68th Solar Century, Republic colony launched a series of manned and unmanned probes into nearby colony worlds. For reasons still not understood, none of the probes were ever heard from. This led to many on both worlds to believe the Tarmigans were still prowling the galaxy and intending to keep the worlds separate and isolated. On both Sapphire and Republic, Isolation movements sprang up demanding that both worlds not attempt to explore or contact the other colonies. These movements, coupled with a lack of resources and effective starflight technology. Beginning in the 69th Solar Century, new developments in hyperspace navigation and long-range exploratory capabilities permitted expanded exploration of the Quadrant. The Odyssey Project, a joint-venture of Republic and Sapphire colonies, began reconnecting the lost and separated colonies of the sector beginning in the 70th Solar Century. Within 300 years, some 300 colonies had been rediscovered. Interstellar communication, transport, and trade links were re-established. The Quadrant became the core of the New Commonwealth of the Galaxy and the Free Worlds Affiliation; the first Interstellar governmental arrangements since the Fall of the Commonwealth. Nearer the Galactic Core, the Lynx Sector was home to the Mighty and Invincible Empire of the Lynx, a species of genetically enhanced felines. As of the mid 74th Earth Century, the sectors Perseus, Pegasus, Antlia, Columba, Vulpecula, Triangulum, Lyra, Equueleus, Vela, Crux and Circinus were being thoroughly recharted. The Ara, Corvus, Horologium, Auriga, and Sagitta sectors were also being explored. The path of exploration reversed back toward Earth and the surviving colonies of the Orion Quadrant. 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